A quality job is the result of a partnership between the client and the “applicators”. Your direction to us is an important component of that partnership. These are a few things to keep in mind...
1) The clearer you are about what you are trying to achieve BEFORE the work starts, the more efficiently I will be able to proceed, and the less extra costs will occur. For example, what are the colors, the finishes, and how what else is happening in the room (i.e. window treatments, linen) affects the paint finishes. When colors change in the middle of job, this often entails extra materials and re-application costs. Also I often tint my primers in the direction of the finished product to achieve greater depth of color, and if colors and finishes are not determined at the start of the work we can not do this as efficiently. I am not an interior decorator, although my experience with finishes that will be most suited for a situation will be useful to you. Ultimately, color choice is up to you. Sometimes a professional decorator can be of great help.
2) Any other work – electrical, plumbing, carpentry etc. is best completed before the paint work starts. This enables me to do the repairs or apply woodwork finishes that are almost always necessary. As a rule of thumb, the painters and paperhangers are the last on a remodeling project.
3) I will move and cover furniture, but I do ask you to remove breakables and “treasured” objects, empty closets when they are being worked on, etc. Excessive disassembly of a room takes time, and there might be added charges for this.
4) As I proceed, the usual order of work is as follows:
a) Wall and ceiling preparation ( wallpaper stripping, crack repair, resurfacing etc. as needed, priming)
b) Woodwork prep ( sanding, filling, caulking, priming) and at least 1 finish coat
c) Wall and ceiling finish painting
d) Wood finish painting
e) Wallcoverings and or faux finishes
As a note, although I try hard to minimize dust and clean up when we’re done, prep work for painting does create the “insidious stuff”. Because it is so fine it does drift around. We apologize in advance. I use a vacuum sander whenever I can, this helps a lot!
5) Stripping and prep of walls done on a time + material basis due to the unknown difficulty of stripping and the conditions of the walls beneath.
The procedure that we take to bring old plaster walls to hang or paint ready condition involves the following steps:
a) Strip the existing paper
b) Repair structural cracks with screws to tighten and then tape with fiber mesh tape.
c) Skim coat surface as necessary with taping compound (usually 2 coats) to fill and smooth surface.
d) Sand above.
e) Prime to provide even porosity for painting or vapor barrier for hanging.
f) Hanging- size with acrylic latex primer for adhesion
Painting- apply finish coats of desired paint.
7) Faux finishing takes both your time and mine to develop samples of techniques and colors that meet your approval .The clearer the idea you have, the easier it will be for me to achieve it. I recommend looking at sample booklets at paint stores or paint technique books to see what appeals to you. I have sample boards from past jobs to get ideas. Then I will make samples for you. I must charge some for the time this takes and will discuss this with you. This process can sometimes be more time consuming that actually doing the finish, so a little research can save you expense.
The actual cost of applying these finishes varies widely on the techniques and number of steps and I cannot bid accurately without knowing exactly the end result. I try to give a " ballpark" estimate of time involved, but it is charged on a time + material basis.
------------------------------------------------ I enjoy my work and try hard to give you a quality job, professionally done, and with the least disruption to your life. You will find that I ask questions about details of the work as things move along. Always feel free to call me with any questions.
My business is one of referrals. If there is something that is not right, I will try to correct it. And if I did a good job for you, I hope you will pass our name to others. And nothing says a job well done like prompt payment!
